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Another American hunts a markhor in Gilgit Baltistan

March 15, 2019 Manzar Hasan shigri


Another American citizen on Friday hunted a markhor during the current hunting season in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Astore district.

He hunted the wild goat at Doyan valley.

This is the fourth consecutive hunt of markhor in Gilgit Baltistan this year as the government and communities share the hunting fee paid by the foreigners.

The hunter paid a Rs12.5 million as permit fee for hunting of the rare wildlife species in the region.



In February, a US hunter paid $110,000 to hunt Pakistan’s national animal in Gilgit-Baltistan. Bryan Kinsel Harlan hunted the Astore markhor in Sassi-Haramosh. He is the highest fee payer for the hunt. The government auctioned four permits to hunt markhors last year.

Local chairman Hamid Hussain said that the money earned from the hunt is spent on development of the area.



Although hunting the markhor is illegal in Pakistan, the government has introduced a scheme which makes the hunt legal. The scheme is known as trophy hunting.

A hunting trophy license is issued after a proper auction by Peshawar’s wildlife department. The highest bidder is then given a permit to hunt one markhor.

Annually, four hunting trophy licenses are issued for Markhor hunting and 80% of the money collected is distributed among the local community, whereas 20% is kept by the wildlife department.

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